John l



J. L. HIGH'BARGER. Book-Holder.

No. 223,589; Patented Jan. 13, 1880.

WITNESSES NJEI'ERSA PNOTO-LITHOGEAPNER. WASHINGYON. D C4 l UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

JOHN L. HIGHBARGER, OF SHARPSBURG, MARYLAND.

BOOK-HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 223,589, dated January 13, 1880.

` Application nied october 13, 1879. f

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN L. HIGHBARGER, of Sharpsburg, in the county of Washington and State of Maryland, have invented a new and Improved Book-Holder; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

The object of my invention is to provide an improved portable device for holding books open for convenience of reading. The device is applied to the upper end of a book-cover; and it consists mainly of three parts, to wit: a bar or roller, two hooks or clasps, and two bent pivoted fingers. The hooks and fingers are attached to the ends of said bar or roller.

The hooks or clasps receive and tightly clamp the upper edges of the lids of the book, and are so attached to the bar or roller that the latter is free to rotate. The pivoted lingers revolve with the roller, so that they may be turned into suitable position to enable them to hold the leaves of the book, as hereinafter more fully described.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, Figure l is a front view of a book and my improved holder attached. Fig. 2 is a vertical cross-section on line m, Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a rear view of a portion of a book with my holder attached.`

A is the bar or roller, which may, if desired, be made of various lengths. The spring hooks or clasps B are made of Wire or thin metal plate, and attached to the roller A near its` ends `by loops or other means, so that the roller is free to rotate therein. The said clasps are approximately S'shaped, or doubled on themselves, so as to form slotted holders for the edges of the book-cover, as shown in Fig. 1. Aplate, O, rigidly connects the clasps and forms the support for the hinge of the bookcover. The iingers D are bent at a right angle and pivoted tothe roller A at points contiguous to the hooks B. The outer ends ofthe fingers are curved, and rubber pads a are applied to their tips, for the purpose of enabling them to hold the leaves of the book in place by friction therewith without injury.

An arm, E, is rigidly attached to the roller A, as shown, to enable the roller to be conveniently rotated after the device has been applied to a book-cover, as shown in Fig. 2,

for the purpose oi' bringing the fingers D into i inserted under the end of the other iin ger with` convenience and dispatch.

In order to better secure the device to a book, I may employ the hooks F, which are attached to the clasps B by means of elastic bands. These hooks F are applied to the lower edges of a book-cover, and the elasticity of the i bands enables them to be used on books diftering in length.

'Ihe device is small, light, and compact, and is hence easily portable. It may be used on books held in racks, or it may be attached to astandard or other form of support, as when required for use for holding band-music books. For this purpose a socket, o, is formed on or attached to the back ot' plate C, to receive a standard or other object on which the device is supported.

I do not claim a book-holder consisting of a bar having elastic lingers and rigid clasps for clamping the leaves and covers of a book; but

The improved portable book-holder hereinbei'ore described, consisting of the spring clasps B,i`or attach ment to book covers or lids,

the plate G, which connects the same, the bar A, which is free to rotate, and the fingers pivoted thereto, all as shown and described.

JOHN L. HIGHBARGER.4 Witnesses:

MosEs POEEENBARGER, J oHN R. POFEENBARGER. 

